NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
TOYOTA OWNERS 400
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
APRIL 27, 2013
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BELL HELICOPTER CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER
WALK US THROUGH THOSE FINAL LAPS AND THE PASSES YOU MADE TO GO FROM SEVENTH TO FIRST:
“That was a heck of a first lap of the restart. I thought that the outside line might have the advantage because it had a couple of guys with new tires in the second row, and lined up on the outside. But the two tires – these cars drive a lot off the left rear – and we only took two tires, and they didn’t get that great of restart but my car launched, and I was able to drive it in the first corner and hope for the best down there. I figured four, eight, 12…how many ever tires that were on the outside of me would be better than none. It all worked out, and here we are.”
WHEN THE CAUTION CAME OUT, YOU WERE CATCHING JUAN PABLO MONTOYA FOR THE LEAD, WHAT DID YOU THINK AND WHAT WAS YOUR DISCUSSION WITH GIL MARTIN?
“Just about how few laps there was left. But, when the tires fall off almost two seconds, you’ve got to come in and get tires. There’s not very many guys that stayed out. It all worked out tonight. We’ve been on the other side of it this year, so to be in Victory Lane is great.”
WHEN YOU CAME OUT SEVENTH, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE SAID IF YOU WERE TOLD THEN YOU WERE GOING TO WIN?
“I knew we had a chance because we were the second car on four tires. You never know what two tires is going to do on a high tire-wear track like this. So, it all just opened up.”
ON THE WIN:
“Well, I just want to thank everybody. It’s been a tough start to the season. Our cars have been really fast. I’ve got to thank Bell Helicopter, Budweiser, Jimmy John’s, and Chevrolet and everybody who participates in this car. Richard Childress, you know, a lot of people have thought we might lay down this year and there ain’t no lame in that game, is there? It was a great night.”
THE PHRASE ‘LAME DUCK’ HAS BEEN USED BEFORE, BUT THERE WAS CERTAINLY NOTHING LAYING DOWN TONIGHT. YOU HAD TO MAKE A DECISION THERE WHEN THAT CAUTION CAME OUT, WHETHER TO STAY OUT OR COME IN FOR TIRES. I GUESS YOU GUYS MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE
“It all worked out. Sprint Cup racing is something that you’ve got to take chances and they guys that stayed out took chances and we had to take chances. But we’ve gotten beat a couple times this year and I thought it was the right thing to do and (crew chief) Gil (Martin) made the right call and it worked out.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 DEPEND CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
YOUR THOUGHTS AS YOU SAW THAT LATE CAUTION COME OUT WHILE YOU WERE LEADING:
“Pissed off. Everybody on the Depend Chevy this week did an amazing job. We had a great car. Same as last week, we had a great car. The pit crew redeemed themselves tonight. They did a great job all day, no mistakes. That is what we needed. We needed to come out of here and do with everybody smart, as he did. It is the luck of the draw. We restarted on the outside, and we were screwed.”
GREAT MOMENTUM FOR NEXT WEEK:
“I felt like last week we had a top-five car as well, but not quite a car to win. I think this weekend…we came here and tested, and the guys did an amazing job, and we had a good car all weekend.”
I GUESS ALL YOU CAN DO IS LAUGH. IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS YOUR RACE TO WIN
“Yeah, we made the right calls when we pitted and when we stayed out and everything, but we got that caution at the end and it was a no-brainer to take tires. And I think what hurt us is we restarted on the outside and when you restart on the outside and people got really bad tires, everything packs up. And when you’re on the outside, you can’t; you know, where are you going to jump? When you are on the inside, you can just jump to the guys. And when (Kevin) Harvick went by I tried to get to the bottom and then the No. 22 (Joey Logano) was there and I said we’ve just got to get a finish. Remember, before this we had six really bad weeks. I thought everybody on the Depend Chevy did a really good job and I’m just really proud of the guys.”
WHEN THE CAUTION FLAG CAME OUT, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
“I said, ‘Really? Really?’ (laughs).”
JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 AIRGAS/BULWARK CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
ON HIS RACE:
“We were seventh there; thought I had the No. 22 (Joey Logano) beat before the caution came out. The caution came out and what the heck, we might as well try something. Luke (Lambert) made a good call there, and obviously new tires a lot better. But, worth a shot. We were going to maybe finish sixth without the caution so to pick up a spot from it was worth a shot.”
HOW MUCH DID THE RACE TRACK CHANGE TONIGHT?
“I thought it changed a lot. I thought Kevin (Harvick) and I both got better at the end of the race. I thought some other cars got worse as the race went on. But Kevin got good at the end of the race. He was his best at the end; we were our best at the end. I think all of that was the track changing and kind of going to our setups a little bit.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED NINTH
TALK US THROUGH WHAT HAPPENED IN THOSE FINAL MOMENTS OF THIS RACE:
“It was an awesome run just to be in the top-five all night. Just nice and steady, waiting for the race to come to us. We didn’t make many adjustments on the Furniture Row car. We were hoping to be on the right sequence at the end. Some guys had older tires. Some guys had newer tires. We were in the mixed. A green-white-checkered at the end, it is just chaos. Cars are everywhere. People are beating and banging and shoving each other out of the way. It’s pretty wild.”
WHAT WAS SAID BETWEEN YOU AND TONY STEWART:
“Why don’t you be a good reporter and talk about the racing. Tony and I talked it over; it’s a free-for-all at the end.”
WHAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN YOU AND TONY STEWART?
“We’ll get to that in a minute. For us, this was a solid run with our Furniture Row car. We were there. We were top 5 all night. Some guys cycled ahead of us. Some guys we were able to get back by on long runs. So all in all, it was a great night for us to be in the top 5, have restarts up front, and lead some laps. And then, you could just tell. Green-white-checkered; everybody is going to put on tires. Some guys are going to do two. Some guys stayed out. And it’s just a free for all. There is rubber build-up in the outside groove. There are cars sliding up with old tires. So, I don’t know what the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) was upset about. I got hit from behind. I got hit every which-way. So did he. (Matt) Kenseth moved us up out of the way at the end, so that’s why I was upset with him, but hey; everybody is a free-for-all. We got a top 10. But the biggest thing here is ten laps ago, this car didn’t have a scratch on it and now it’s destroyed.”
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS RACE TODAY, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE-AWAY AS YOU CONTINUE TO BUILD WITH THIS ENTIRE OPERATION?
“Just being able to work together through sequences of the race. And today, we didn’t quite have the best handling car, but we worked with it in the top 5 and we hoped that the race would come to us. Today, it just didn’t pan out. But today was a great day to be in the top 5; we posted a top 10. And we’ve got to go for wins. That’s where we’re going to be able to make the Chase and be in the top 20 in points.”